Universal Serial Bus (USB) has become a ubiquitous mechanism for connecting systems of devices. The expansion of USB has resulted in a wide variety of USB devices with varying power requirements. Even though the maximum signaling and supply voltages that can be transmitted between USB devices is limited per the USB specification, significant ground imbalances can exist between connected USB devices. Ground imbalances between USB devices results in favorable conditions for various phenomena such as electrical surges, electrostatic discharge and ground loops to propagate between the devices via the USB connection. Such phenomena may be especially damaging in industrial environments where high voltages are present. Electrical isolation prevents electrical phenomena from being propagated between devices.
Electrical isolation of USB devices can be provided using a repeater component that translates between analog USB signals and digital signals. Such conventional repeater components may provide effective electrical isolation, but may require complex and costly implementations in order to translate between packetized digital information and analog signals. Due to this complexity, conventional electrical isolation implemented in this manner may result in limiting the bandwidth of the USB connection to full speed (12 Mbps).